What to see this weekend

The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones

For anyone who enjoyed Edgar Wright’s Shaun of the Dead or Hot Fuzz, you’re in for a treat with his newest flick, The World’s End. Simon Pegg and Nick Frost tell the tale of five friends in their 40s tryin’ to relive a night of drinking from their youth. You can read our interview with Wright and Frost here, where we chat nostalgia.

Based on Cassandra Clare’s New York Times-bestselling series The Mortal Instruments, Harald Zwart (The Karate Kid) brings you the film adaptation of the first book City of Bones. Part fantasy, part action, the story follows a teen discovering that she’s a demon hunter — just like her mom.

If you’ve been waiting for something frightening since The Conjuring came out last month, Adam Wingard’s You’re Next is your best bet. The film premiered at Fantasia a couple weeks ago and our reviewers Katie Ferrar and Mark Carpenter called it a “must-see.” The plot? A family reunion gets interrupted by killers wearing animal masks and wielding unusual weapons.

Cinéma du Parc have three films starting today that are worth investigating. Museum Hours is a slow-paced exploration of friendship and art between a Vienna museum guard and a visitor (played by Canadian singer Mary Margaret O’Hara). In his review, Malcolm Fraser said it was “an elegant and thoughtful reflection on the role of art in people’s lives.”

You can also check out Andrew Bujalski’s Computer Chess, which is a throwback to ’80s computer sci-fi — including Dazed and Confused’s Wiley Wiggins in a small role. It’s set around a man vs. machine chess tournament, and according to Malcolm Fraser, Bujalski “pushes boundaries in the tradition of great arthouse filmmakers.”

Michael Cera has released two films with director Sebastián Silva this year, first the horror flick Magic, Magic and now a psychedelic road movie, Crystal Fairy and the Magic Cactus, starring child star Gaby Hoffmann (Sleepless in Seattle, Now and Then) in the title role. The film gives Cera a chance to be “genuinely unlikable,” while Hoffmann “commands the screen,” says Malcolm Fraser. The pair and some friends go on a search in Chile for a cactus that contains mescaline. ■